Bourne's Energy

July 8, We were first contacted by *** *** in February of when she inherited the property at *** *** **, in ***. We had been servicing the tenants who lived in the house
previously with Propane for cooking and hot water. At that time the oil fired heating system at the property was not operable and *** contacted us to supply a quote for the replacement of the old heating system with a high efficiency Propane fired boiler. I did the walk through at that time and gave her several different proposal options for the heating system I did not hear back from *** until nearly a year later when she contacted me to have the heating system replaced and ask if the work could be done with the water to the building shut off because the building was vacant, which we agreed it could. We updated the proposal for the agreed-upon heating equipment including an additional water softener requested by ***This was a “fixed quote” meaning that both parties agreed on the total cost for the installation before work began and the customer is responsible for paying the entire amount agreed upon regardless of whether or not we use more or less material or labor. *** and myself both signed the contract and early in February of we began work to replace the heating system at *** *** **. Although we had virtually no issues with the heating system installation, upon arrival the first day we found that the house had not been properly winterizedWe found many breaks and splits in both the domestic water and heat lines, broken plumbing fixtures and baseboard element. We made *** aware of the situation as soon as possible and I supplied her with an estimate to make the repairsThe estimate for the plumbing repairs was done as a “time and materials” quote, meaning that because of the nature of the job a “fixed quote” would be too difficult to accurately estimate. So rather than pick some astronomical number to make sure we have enough capital to complete the job, we simply bill the customer for the materials and labor as we use them; this can be much more practical for the customer and Bourne’s on certain jobs. Upon hearing of the newly discovered issues *** was very distressed and made it clear that she would have some difficulty covering the expense of the repairs. Knowing this and taking into consideration that she had just signed on as a fuel customer and already purchased the boiler from Bourne’s Energy, we did everything we could within in the estimate to make the project affordable for her. After several emails back and forth between myself and *** ensuring that we would proceed as frugally as possible, we came to an agreement on the proposal. *** made the prearranged deposit, and we began work on the repairsThe piping repair work went as many of these jobs do, with several hiccups along the way. We found many more breaks than anticipated, requiring us to open up walls and ceilings and replace several plumbing fixtures. During the length of the project I kept in contact with *** on the progress and anticipated cost. During the course of the project we did many small steps pro-bono. In hindsight I wish we had been more thorough in showing these credits on the invoices as I believe it may have saved this customer relationship. At the end of the job, we billed *** for the recorded labor and materials at the contracted construction rate. *** paid the invoice within a reasonable time frameA short time later I was contacted by ***. She had hired a home inspection done by an outside party. The home inspector found some minor issues with our work; we had used standard spruce lumber instead of treated lumber during construction of the wall where the new boiler was hung. I expressed to *** that knowing that the basement was fairly dry and that once the leaky bulkhead is repaired the lumber should last a very long time. The inspector also mentioned that the upstairs toilet was wobbling; we did not install or move the upstairs toilet so we billed *** for a service call. *** later contacted me regarding the bill and complained that she was under the impression that we had installed the toilet upstairs. I informed her that we had not, but after a few emails we decided to credit her the service call in order to keep her happy and avoid any dispute. Sometime later I drove by the property and noticed that we had not been back to bury the gas line from the new propane tank to the house. Because the tank was set in the winter we were not able to dig the ditch for the line so it was run temporarily on top of the ground so we could get the heat going. I contacted *** about this and I agreed that burying the line would be covered by the original plumbing repair quote. In retrospect I wish I had been clearer with her on the billing; because the original repair job was done as “Time and Material”, nothing is specifically “covered” in the estimate except the hourly rate. Basically any work that is done is to be billed out at the agreed rate, but again in order to please the customer, we decided to bury the line pro-bono. Unfortunately, when the tech went back to dig the ditch and bury the line he found that the original copper line had been damaged and we had to run a new gas line from the tank to the house. This is where the disagreement began; we still forfeited the labor on the invoice but we had to bill the customer for the materials used. I believe that this is only fair as we can do only so much for free and we need to be able to recoup the cost of the materials used. I did my best to explain this to *** to no avail. I feel very disheartened that we did so much for this customer in consideration of her situation and yet we are left breaking this professional relationship over such an insignificant invoice. We feel we went above and beyond what would normally be expected, however we are a for-profit business supporting many employees and their families and there is only so much we can do for our customers without recompense. Yours Truly, *** *** Branch Manager Bourne’s Energy ***